These are the usual parts of a typical kindergarten session. The order may vary from day to day or some activities may be replaced by a special program or by a special subject class. The students have Library class on Mondays with Mrs. Egg. We will also have gym time on Thursdays. Art activities are integrated into the daily classroom activities. Computer activities are a part of Learning Centers.
Daily Routine
Each day we open the session by sharing news. We then take attendance, go over the day’s schedule, say the “Pledge of Allegiance,” and sing some songs. We then work as a group to write and read the Daily Message, an interactive writing experience that includes modeling by the teacher and active participation by the students. Sometimes this activity is moved to the Writing Workshop to serve as the introductory lesson before the students’ independent writing.
We next focus on lessons to introduce math concepts that range from recognizing and quantifying numbers to making a pattern to adding and subtracting. The counting jar and attendance stick help to build an understanding of number sense over the course of the year.
Next we do a daily activity to help the students develop phonemic awareness – the ability to discriminate individual sounds and then to “manipulate” those sounds by either taking apart the sounds in a word or putting the sounds together to form a word. These skills are presented systematically and later reviewed throughout the school year.
Next, we use a selection of literature as the center of a language arts lesson. This means that what seems to the students to be Story Time is also a lesson in identifying characters, recognizing the beginning /middle/end of the story, or retelling the story.
A favorite part of the day is learning centers when the class moves into small-group or independent learning activities. These learning activities are often related to the overarching theme of the language arts program. They are partly teacher-directed and partly activities that the student can choose from. Typically there will be a teacher-facilitated phonics or reading fluency lesson, an art activity, a math activity, a fine-motor activity (such as building with Legos or stringing beads), a dramatic play center (such as kitchen area or puppet theater), a large-motor activity (such as block building), computer activities, a writing center activity, and a quiet independent reading area. Other center activities may include a science discovery center, a listening center where students listen to a tape while “reading” along in the book, play dough or sand play, and drawing at the easel. Students not only learn many important academic concepts during center activities, but they also are learning and practicing many very important social skills that are a natural outcome of this more informal time of instruction.
Recess provides an opportunity for large-muscle activities as well as important social interaction. Gym instruction includes a warm up, skill activity and or game, and a cool down time.
During music time we sing songs, learn rhythmic chants, do finger plays, move to music, and play rhythm instruments together. The music selections are tied into the current theme, and often the words we sing are printed on large charts to provide additional opportunity for letter recognition or other literacy skills.
The writers’ workshop has three components. First, the whole class works together on a shared mini-lesson with the teacher that is designed to teach and model some facet of the writing process (for instance, sounding out words or using a period). Second, after participating in writing a group story, the students go to the tables and write an individual piece of work. Because it is totally normal for kindergartners to vary widely in their individual development in all areas, including writing, there is also wide variation in how they use emergent writing to put their words onto paper. Third, the students can volunteer to share their writing with the class by having a turn in the Author’s Chair.
We end each day by summarizing and reflecting on the day’s activities, gathering our papers from our mailboxes, and getting ready for dismissal.
Kindergarten Schedule
Opening
Calendar/Counting Math
Phonemic Awareness
Music
Literature Lesson / Library
Learning Center Activities
Clean – Up
Recess / Gym
Writers’ Workshop/ Math Workshop
Dismissal
These are the usual parts of a typical kindergarten session. The order may vary from day to day or some activities may be replaced by a special program or by a special subject class. The students have Library class on Mondays with Mrs. Egg. We will also have gym time on Thursdays. Art activities are integrated into the daily classroom activities. Computer activities are a part of Learning Centers.
Daily Routine
Each day we open the session by sharing news. We then take attendance, go over the day’s schedule, say the “Pledge of Allegiance,” and sing some songs. We then work as a group to write and read the Daily Message, an interactive writing experience that includes modeling by the teacher and active participation by the students. Sometimes this activity is moved to the Writing Workshop to serve as the introductory lesson before the students’ independent writing.
We next focus on lessons to introduce math concepts that range from recognizing and quantifying numbers to making a pattern to adding and subtracting. The counting jar and attendance stick help to build an understanding of number sense over the course of the year.
Next we do a daily activity to help the students develop phonemic awareness – the ability to discriminate individual sounds and then to “manipulate” those sounds by either taking apart the sounds in a word or putting the sounds together to form a word. These skills are presented systematically and later reviewed throughout the school year.
Next, we use a selection of literature as the center of a language arts lesson. This means that what seems to the students to be Story Time is also a lesson in identifying characters, recognizing the beginning /middle/end of the story, or retelling the story.
A favorite part of the day is learning centers when the class moves into small-group or independent learning activities. These learning activities are often related to the overarching theme of the language arts program. They are partly teacher-directed and partly activities that the student can choose from. Typically there will be a teacher-facilitated phonics or reading fluency lesson, an art activity, a math activity, a fine-motor activity (such as building with Legos or stringing beads), a dramatic play center (such as kitchen area or puppet theater), a large-motor activity (such as block building), computer activities, a writing center activity, and a quiet independent reading area. Other center activities may include a science discovery center, a listening center where students listen to a tape while “reading” along in the book, play dough or sand play, and drawing at the easel. Students not only learn many important academic concepts during center activities, but they also are learning and practicing many very important social skills that are a natural outcome of this more informal time of instruction.
Recess provides an opportunity for large-muscle activities as well as important social interaction. Gym instruction includes a warm up, skill activity and or game, and a cool down time.
During music time we sing songs, learn rhythmic chants, do finger plays, move to music, and play rhythm instruments together. The music selections are tied into the current theme, and often the words we sing are printed on large charts to provide additional opportunity for letter recognition or other literacy skills.
The writers’ workshop has three components. First, the whole class works together on a shared mini-lesson with the teacher that is designed to teach and model some facet of the writing process (for instance, sounding out words or using a period). Second, after participating in writing a group story, the students go to the tables and write an individual piece of work. Because it is totally normal for kindergartners to vary widely in their individual development in all areas, including writing, there is also wide variation in how they use emergent writing to put their words onto paper. Third, the students can volunteer to share their writing with the class by having a turn in the Author’s Chair.
We end each day by summarizing and reflecting on the day’s activities, gathering our papers from our mailboxes, and getting ready for dismissal.